Raising children in hostile worlds in Santiago de Chile

Optimism and 'hyper-agentic' mothers

Bibliographic Data

ID3210029
AuthorsMarjorie Murray (0000-0002-8391-4830, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, corresponding author), Constanza Tizzoni (0000-0002-0856-3049, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)
Year2022
Volume70
Issue1
Pages92-107
Publication date2022-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00380261211056169
OpenAlexW3210452453
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited37

Based on an ethnographic research on early mothering with a small and heterogeneous group of women living in different areas of Santiago, Chile - and a follow-up study six years later - in this article we look closely at how mothering takes place through a sense of optimism while living in a hostile world, contrasting our findings with similar research in northern countries. Rather than waiting for opportunities to present themselves, women's sense of optimism is based on their own difficult experiences of learning to cope in a hostile world, and how this requires organizing their children's education to face challenges beyond their immediate family circle. We claim the existence of hyper-agentic motherhood - one that articulates traditional maternalism, increasing societal demands on parenting and the specific take on individuation detached from institutions in neoliberal Chile. Mothering through optimism in a hostile world questions the possibility to import classed parenting models. We identify a resonance with Adrie Kusserow's description of hard individualism in which children are taught how to navigate the hostile world in the search for success, but with the difference that children in this context are brought up with the idea that mothers will be there for them in the long run, regardless of what actually takes place. This longitudinal study of parenting provides information on the usually silent processes of subjectification and emergent values that can be overlooked in times of social transformation

Context (archaeology) · Ethnography · Face (sociological concept) · Individualism · Optimism · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Subjectification · Child Welfare and Adoption · Early Childhood Education and Development · Gender Studies · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Psychology · Social Psychology

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